


Someone Who Cares

by Oriano



Category: Naruto
Genre: Adoption, F/M, Family, Friendship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-26
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-07-15 06:37:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 19,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7211900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oriano/pseuds/Oriano
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tsukino Miu is a sixteen year old Kunoichi. When she finds a beaten and bruised four-year old Naruto near her home, she takes him in. She decides to adopt him and train him, but not without giving him a proper childhood. Danzo is not making this easy, though and other problems keep getting in the way. KakashixOC, Eventually NaruHina, AU</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. My name is Uzumaki Naruto

**Author's Note:**

> This is a slightly rewritten version of the story that I've posted on ff.net under my penname Shiroi Ichigo-chan.

Uzumaki Naruto was running.

The air had turned humid and cold, the thick grey clouds obscuring the sun had been threatening rain all morning. Still, the village around him was peaceful. Sounds of laughter and everyday life echoed in the distance, but he didn’t pay it any mind as he ran away from it, into the forest and away from prying eyes.

Pain flashed through his body with every step he took, his breath was coming in gasps, his brow furrowed, eyes clouded. Tears ran down his face, blurring his vision. He stumbled to a stop, almost tripping over a tree root he hadn’t seen. He looked around and noticed he was safely hidden by the darkened forest, away from other people. No one would find him here. He would be safe here, for now. He sat down and leaned against the trunk of a tree, carefully favoring his right arm. He closed his eyes and whimpered, a sob escaping split lips.

Everything was _hurting_.

He should be used to it, it shouldn’t affect him this much anymore. He curled into himself as he cried.

“Someone, _please_ …”

The four year old was definitely not having a good day. That morning had started up normally, or as normal as his day went. He’d gotten up early and left his windowless room to get some fresh air from outside. He’d hidden in his favorite spot, a small opening created by two trees that had grown together, keeping himself busy with sorting through the fallen leaves in search of one that had a perfect mix of colors until the breakfast call had sounded and he’d gone inside. He’d went straight to the back of the line, like he’d been taught, because that’s where a monster like him belonged.

When he’d gotten his meager breakfast, he’d huddled over his plate and had quickly made his way over to a table, only to drop it as he startled when the matron banged the door open. He’d watched in horror as his plate had hit the ground and shattered into a million little pieces, his empty stomach lurching in disappointment. He looked up, aware that a hush had fallen over the dining area. His breath left him as he saw the matron’s face turning an ugly purple, her meaty hands balling into fists he knew all too well. He’d flinched away, his hands already up to protect his face when the first blow hit him in the side of the head. She’d grabbed his collar and had dragged him to the back where no one would hear…

Naruto always tried taking his punishment without a word. He knew that if he begged and apologized they would only hit him more and harder, but he couldn’t help that when the blows kept raining down, when the pain became too much, he’d whimpered apologies and pleaded for her to stop, hoping that _this time_ she would have mercy and leave him be.

Which didn’t happen. It never did.

He had adapted, it had become normal. This morning the beatings were extra harsh, though. October tenth was approaching after all.

Naruto may have been young, but he knew that the beatings, the glares, the insults and the loneliness were always worse in October. The closer his birthday came, the more he made sure to make his presence scarce. Away from the glaring eyes and the grabbing, hurtful hands that wouldn’t hesitate to hit him if he somehow incurred their wrath. He usually kept to himself in a corner and tried to be as quiet as possible.

_Don’t be seen, don’t be heard._

It was a lesson hard learned.

It hadn’t always been that way though. He’d tried. Oh, how he had tried to be good, to be what they wanted him to be. It always felt like he was doing something different from the other kids, that he was somehow breaking an unspoken rule that he wasn’t aware of. That _had_ to be the reason why everyone looked at him like they wanted nothing more than have him gone. He _must_ be doing something wrong.

He just had to be quiet and observe the kids at the orphanage until he figured out what it was so he could do better.

He’d found out that it wasn’t quite that easy, though.

And now, here he was.

He’d run the moment he’d come to, body aching, pain tearing a path of hot agony inside of him. He’d run, afraid that they’d find him again and beat him up some more if he stayed there. Sometimes he hid in the forest surrounding the village, finding that when he went there no one came after him. In the forest his wounds got the chance to heal and he could let his guard down and rest without worrying about the threat of another beating.

Naruto may have become accustomed to the beatings and may have seen it as something that was an almost everyday occurrence, but that didn't lessen the pain, it didn't lessen the hurt and loneliness he was feeling. All he wanted was a kind word, eyes that didn’t look at him as if he was a monster, hands that wouldn’t hurt. Maybe a friend, or acknowledgment, the kind that didn’t earn him a beating. That would be nice.

It was all he could ask for, really. He knew that even having only those things was more than enough. More than he deserved. He couldn’t and wouldn’t ask for more.

Of course he wanted so much more. But he knew… those other, secret desires would never be granted. The wishes he cried out in his heart when he was in his small windowless room, curled up on his mattress, when the glaring was so bad it felt that he was being crushed from the inside, when the beatings got so bad he wanted nothing more than the peace of unconsciousness or when he watched those families from afar and felt his heart shatter and crumble inside of his chest.

It was selfish to even _think_ about it.

Besides. What was he expecting? He knew that it was impossible for someone to love him, to care for him, to worry for him. He knew he would never have someone that would hug him or cry with him. Never have someone who would cook for him, scold him or fuss over him. Someone to just be there with him, talk to him, play ninja-tag with him, someone who would lift that blanket of intense loneliness that was almost suffocating him.

And even though he didn't have those things and knew, just  _knew_  he would never get them either, he kept smiling, kept getting up again even though he was constantly beaten down. He couldn’t give up, couldn’t stop getting up, because if he did…

No, he’d just live his life day to day. He’d just appreciate the good parts and forget the bad.

He wouldn’t be able to cope otherwise.

Naruto tightened his grip on his arm, curling into a smaller ball. The tears came, just like they always did. And like always he cried alone. His trembling, small form hidden by the leaves and branches of the tree he was hiding under. His orange shirt and brown shorts blending in with the autumn colored leaves.

He closed his eyes as tears streamed down his face and thought back to the times he saw kids with their family; playing, laughing, being  _happy_. Kids running out of their house, knowing that their parents would be there for them, to welcome them, to fuss over them, to get angry at them… For the millionth time, his thoughts wandered to his own parents. Who were they? Had they abandoned him? Were they alive? Dead? Why weren't they here with him?

_Why did you leave me, mom, dad? Why am I alone?_

And as he cried, the clouds that had been looming above the village finally opened up and it rained. Naruto sat there, leaning against a tree, sobbing and listening to the rain. The _pitter-patter_ of it falling down soothed him. Strangely, he felt at peace. His tears stopped and he relaxed, falling willingly into the comforting darkness where there was only peace.

* * *

Tsukino Miu was hungry. No, she was absolutely starving! She had eaten nothing but shitty ration bars and quick meals that she had no time to enjoy. Now that the mission was complete and they’d reported to the Hokage, she was eager to indulge herself with some heavenly sweets. Eager to get away, she waved her farewell to her teammates. "Hey guys, I'll see you later, okay!"  

Hanazawa gave her a knowing look, the corner of her mouth twitching into a smile, while Akihito just rolled his eyes in exasperation. Miu laughed, her blue eyes crinkling. Both raised their hands in goodbye. “See you later, Tsukino!”

She gave them one last wave and a grin, before taking to the rooftops. She immediately went in the direction of the dango shop she had fallen in love with when she first came here.

Six months. It had been six months, since she’d moved to Konoha.

Six months since her parents had died.

She walked into the dango shop, brushing down her black bangs from their windswept appearance and immediately spotting one of her friends devouring dango as if her life depended on it. She sat down in the seat across from her and called her order.

"Good morning, Anko." She smirked. “You know, it’s kind of scary that every time I come here, you’re either already here or accompanying me.”

"Goof morning, Miu-chan." She answered with her mouth still full. At Miu's disgusted look, she swallowed the dango she had been eating before talking again.

"Good to see you again, I was getting bored!” She grinned broadly. “You know there is no place I’d rather be than here! So, how was your mission? Who did you go with this time?” She asked.

“It went well.” She told her with a grin. “They temporarily paired me up with Hanazawa and Akihito. Their teammate was injured on their last mission.”

Anko nodded. “Took a knife to the gut, I heard.”

Miu winced in sympathy. “Well that must have sucked. Those two were great, in any case. Akihito acts like he’s all tough, but he’s just a big softie, though his doton techniques are insane. Hanazawa on the other hand. Well, let’s just say I don’t ever want to get on her bad side, have you seen what that woman can do with her Taijutsu and that stupid spear of hers?” They both winced in unison. 

Miu's dango was served and she picked up the dango sticks and started inhaling them. Anko clapped her on the back out of nowhere and Miu momentarily choked on the sweets she was eating. She shot the purple head a questioning glare.

“Look at you, learning to fit in!” She grinned and Miu rolled her eyes.

“I don’t wanna hear that from you.” She sighed, and Anko laughed.

“Hey, if you’re not too tired today, wanna do something together? I’m kind of in the mood for a spar, but there’s also a new item on the menu at Higurashi’s.” Miu grinned. Higurashi was their favorite sushi place and she was absolutely salivating at the thought of some nice raw fish.

“Are you serious? I’d love to go!” Her face fell when she remembered the things she still had to do.

"But, I can’t today. I have a report to write and I want to try finishing up the draft to that medical seal I was working on. What do you think of tomorrow?" Anko of course crossed her arms and pouted like a five-year-old.

“Are you for real? You should really relax a little! Why would you write your report the evening you came back?” At Miu’s pointed look, Anko rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, you can’t relax ‘till you’ve finished your work.” She mimicked in a higher pitched voice, obviously reciting somethings she’d heard over a thousand times.

“I do _not_ talk like that.” Miu argued, though the effect was kind of ruined as she was trying not to laugh. Anko made a dimissive gesture as she took a bite of another Dango, muttering “Partypooper,” under her breath.

Miu shot her a mock glare, “What did you say?” Anko gave a half shrug, lips pulling into a smirk with her mouth still full of Dango.

“Nuthin’” The fake innocent look and tone on her friend’s face didn’t fool Miu one bit. Anko shrugged again and agreed. "Fine. Higurashi’s tomorrow evening, then?" Miu nodded, letting their silliness go for now.

“If you want to, we could spar around noon, when I’ve eaten?” Anko grinned.

“Sounds like a plan!” As Anko stuffed her face again, Miu smirked.

"Wanna join me for my morning run again? It would be fun just you, me…and Gai." She asked her friend lightly, who effectively choked on the dango she was eating. Miu just laughed in her face, her blue eyes twinkling as her friend struggled to breath and helpfully thumped her on the back.

“Revenge is sweet, indeed.” She laughed as her friend spluttered.

"Y-you—how mean! You're  _evil_! No thanks! You're totally the only one in Konoha who voluntarily goes running with that…  _Thing!_ He wears green, damn it! A  _green_ spandex!" She shivered only thinking about it.

"Aaw, the poor guy. He’s not that bad, you know. He just likes green, because it enhances his youthfulness." Miu laughed at the wide-eyed expression on the other Kunoichi's face.

"Miu! Don't  _say_  that, okay! I’m sick of hearing it and I only met him _twice_! And do you know what's worse?! That Genjutsu that just appears out of nowhere behind him. Last time I saw it, I almost went blind. I'm scarred for life!" She ended, dramatically waving a stick full of dango around, before swallowing them. Miu laughed loudly at her antics.

“Oh stop being so overdramatic, you.” She said, still chuckling. Her friend snorted.

“Say whatever, but you’re still insane.”

Miu just gave her a fond eye roll.

Anko had been the first friend Miu made when she came to Konoha. She had come to eat some dango to distract herself from the grief, when they’d noticed each other. They had both been poised with a stick full of dango, mouths open to take that first delightful bite when their eyes had met. They had promptly started a glaring match, which was absurdly funny in hindsight. They’d viciously attacked their dango, still glaring at each other over various tables, the plates on their tables mounting as they’d somehow started an impromptu eating contest. Anko had won, of course. One couldn’t beat Anko at eating dango, after all. But after that they had both acknowledged each other and after meeting there several times, they’d started talking and eventually became really good friends. Miu had never acknowledged that she’d puked up every bit of Dango she’d eaten that first day to Anko, though. Her friend would have never let her live it down.

Miu and Anko both finished their dango and talked about their missions and news around the village, just catching up with each other. They both got up after a while.

"I have to go and write that damn report now. I'll see you tomorrow around noon, then, Anko. Oh and just so you know, I am  _not_  going drinking tonight. If you come ask, I'll wake you up for the run-of-doom." Anko paled and Miu smirked.

"I won't!" Anko quickly responded. Miu nodded, satisfied she’d scared her friend enough to leave her in peace for the evening. Besides, she didn’t know what the big deal was. Gai was insanely fast and it was a good exercise trying to keep up with him. Miu inwardly snickered. _Trying_ being the operative word.

"Good. Bye Bye!" she waved her friend goodbye and took the road home, instead of the roofs.

Miu marveled at the stunning and peaceful scenery. The beautiful trees covered with the colors of autumn, the kids playing around and the parents watching them with amused, bored or sometimes worried expressions. She watched as a group of kids burst into rambunctious laughter at something one of them said.  _How nice…_ she thought as her lips curled into a smile. She was so very thankful that these kids could live a carefree life, free of the worry, pain and grief of war. Her generation hadn’t had that luxury. They all had rushed childhood’s, trained to defend themselves as soon as possible, trained to go on missions…There had been no time to play.

It was wonderfully reassuring that this generation of children would have childhoods free of that harsh reality.

Miu walked by the village square, letting her admiring gaze linger on the huge tree that was perched in the middle of it, before she moved to the edge of the platform, raised above the village. She stood still at one of the railings, where she had a breathtaking view of the village. Streets all snaking through each other like some elaborate maze, interspersed by colorful trees with the Hokage mountain right ahead, the Hokage’s stone faces watching over them. There was so much green and gold and red that surrounded everything, giving the village an ever more homely, warm look.

The air smelled of the rain that had fallen that morning and the air was slightly cool against her skin. She looked up at the sky and smiled at the blue vastness. The clouds that had gathered earlier were mostly gone and the sun was shining brightly again.

She felt so glad to be home.

Coming to Konoha, she’d seen what had entranced her parents so about the village. Miu and her parents had travelled a lot in the four years after the clan massacre and she’d seen a lot of beautiful places at that time, but she could honestly say that Konoha ranked almost on the top of her list. The village was so _alive_. She loved the trees, the small rivers and the general _hominess_ of the place. The majority of the people she’d met were all so friendly and inviting.

There was a peacefulness here that calmed her battered and tired soul. She liked to think that that was something her parents had wanted for her to feel.

Miu kind of envied them sometimes.

Her clan had originally been one of merchants based in the capital of Fire Country. After the first shinobi war, many children wished to get stronger so they could help their family members and the civilians around fire country, like the Konoha shinobi they’d met had done. Thus the clan head at the time, her late great-grandfather, had sent the children wishing to become shinobi to Konoha’s Academy, his sister and her husband moved there as a young couple and took care of all the Tsukino children that had come their way.

As the Tsukino slowly integrated into the village, the Hokage invited them all to move to Konoha, but the elders politely declined, stating that their base of business had been in fire country for many, many years and they had no wish to change it. The Hokage respected their wishes. 

Her mother’s clan had moved here, to Konoha, during the second shinobi war and while respectable, were really small. Her parents had told her that they’d gotten to know each other in the academy and she was sad that she hadn’t had the opportunity to have met people that way.

Being the clan heir, and there having been a war going on, Miu had been forced to begin her training early. There had been some unexplained and disquieting disappearances at Konoha, where children from all kinds of clans were going missing, which had thoroughly alarmed her clan when they’d found out about it. Not wanting to risk losing her, the clan head, her grandfather at the time—before her uncle had taken over, had decided that she should be home schooled in the shinobi arts. She’d had tutors, while her parents and most of the other clan members were being sent out for the war effort.

She hadn’t had a lot of friends growing up in that kind of environment.

Still, being at home, she’d seen first-hand all the hard work her clan had put into helping out Konoha in the war. Their achievements and their failures…A lot of people had lost their lives, but her clan had played an important part in supporting the other Konoha shinobi. Even the civilian side of her clan, the merchants based around Fire country had helped with providing them with supplies and information wherever they could. She knew how hard her clan had trained and was very proud of their part in the war.

She entered the woods on the outskirts of the village, following the path home almost subconsciously. The gates to her home became visible and she paused in her steps as she noticed something from the corner of her eyes. She turned around, narrowing her eyes slightly. She moved closer, but stopped dead in her tracks the moment she noticed what it was.

Miu almost took a step back in horror.

A child. A small, blond kid, well she supposed that he was a blond, since part of his hair was matted with blood, was resting against the trunk of a tree. His clothes were torn, noticing absently that they blended in perfectly with the trees and the fallen leaves scattered around him. Standing from here, it seemed as if he were dead, but Miu picked up on the slight going up and down of his chest that thankfully proved otherwise.

The medic in her kicked in and she hurriedly made her way over to the small child. She kneeled down next to him and made a quick sequence of hand seals, running a glowing hand over his body. He had a head wound, three broken ribs, a broken arm, his back was badly hurt and he had numerous bruises over his body. Her eyes narrowed as she took in the deplorable state of the child, correctly guessing what had caused those injuries.

_Hit in the face, defensive wounds to the arms, probably kicked when he was down on the ground…both to the front and the back._

His body was cold to the touch, meaning that he’d probably been laying here for a while.

Who would _do_ something like this to a child, she wondered furiously, tampered only by her worry for his life as she picked him up gently. She got up, her stomach lurching at his unnaturally lightness. She shook it off and for a second wondered where she would take him. The hospital or her own home? The hospital would take too long, while her home was right here. If his injuries were too extensive and she couldn’t heal them, she would head over to the hospital immediately. Decision made, she hurriedly entered her house.

She directly went up to one of the guest rooms and laid the child down on the bed. She took off his clothes and blanched at the overly thin frame. She could easily count his ribs and almost every part of his skin was a dark molted purple. There were bruises upon bruises, some older and already healing, while others were still fresh. With his body as battered as he was, he looked broken lying there. Miu took a deep breath to compose herself and started cleaning his wounds, closing them up with medical ninjutsu. She wetted a towel and gently washed away the blood and grime from his hair and face.

It took her the better part of an hour to heal him and get him cleaned and warmed up. By the time she was done, she felt exhausted and wary to the bone, something that she couldn’t all account to the expenditure of her chakra. Leaning against the side of the bed, she stared at the boy. Cleaned up, she finally got a better look at him. The boy was definitely malnourished. He had messy blond hair, jutting up in tiny spikes and his cheeks had three cute whisker like markings. She gently traced them. The kid had an angelic face and she was furious at the bastards that had hurt this child. If she hadn't found him when she had, the kid’s life could have been in a lot more danger, either because of his injuries or the hypothermia that hadn’t been far off.

The boy was obviously neglected and abused and she wondered who did this to him. His parents? Another family member? Did this kid even have family? His clothes looked as if they could have been picked up from a dumpster. What if this kid lived on the streets?

She figured she had to contact the authorities. The police and social services would find the boy a suitable placement. She ignored the tightening inside of her chest at the thought of so coldly handing the boy over.  

She had never seen him before, but that couldn't mean anything. After all, of the six months she had been here, she was almost always out on a mission. She just met up with her friends, trained, tinkered with seals and sometimes worked in the hospital. But she hadn’t ever seen him there either. She wondered if the boy didn’t or couldn’t come to the hospital to get treated, because this was obviously not a first time occurrence. She shivered and quickly pushed that thought out of her mind.

With jerky, agitated movements, she ran a hand through her bangs and pulled her hair tie loose, releasing her hair from her high ponytail. She ran a hand through the long black locks, dislodging a few pieces of rock, which had somehow landed in her hair during the confrontation at the end of her mission. A sigh escaped her lips as she gently massaged her scalp. She could really use a hot shower right now, and her bed seemed to be calling her, but she knew that leaving the kid to wake up alone was not a good idea.

She looked over at the sleeping child and her gaze softened. Honestly, of course she would be the one to find an abused and neglected kid practically on her doorstep just as she came back from a mission. She yawned openly and stretched. Well, maybe a short shower to freshen up wouldn’t hurt.

She reached over to the child and gently brushed a hand through his blond locks once, before she got up. She went to her room, got a fresh set of clothes and made her way to the bathroom. Fifteen minutes later, she sat down at the desk in the guest room after checking on the kid again. She put the scrolls and mission paperwork she needed down and stretched. Well, she felt a bit more awake now. And she guessed that if she was working here, she would at least not fall asleep and would be able to keep an eye out for when the boy woke up. She’d hopefully be able to explain the situation to him when did.

Pulling the paperwork closer, she started writing her mission report.

* * *

Miu sighed as she put down her pen. She threw her head and arms back and stretched out her sore muscles, rubbing her hand against gritty eyes as she yawned. Well, that was her damn mission report finally done. She stapled the paperwork and put it in her organizer. She would go and deliver this to the mission desk tomorrow.

She pulled out her scroll and put it on her desk, leaving it closed for now. She contemplated it for a second, before deciding that she’d starve if she didn’t have some food first. It was almost seven o'clock anyway and she was hungry. She glanced at the kid, who was still sleeping and got up to prepare dinner for two. She wasn't in the mood for something complicated, so she just went with some rice, fried chicken and miso soup. She put the tea kettle on and made herself some green tea.

* * *

 

Uzumaki Naruto slowly came back to consciousness, groggily opening his eyes to an unknown ceiling. He blinked a few times and realized he was not in his room in the orphanage— _Ceiling’s too high and there are_ windows _,_ so that possibility was out _._ _Where am I?_  He thought in surprise.

He looked around the room and found that it was _big_. The walls were painted a warm summery yellow. The bed he was on was huge, with beige and coppery orange covers that was settled against the back wall, with two windows on either side of it. There was a desk on his right, the lamp on it was on, casting a warm glow across the room. There was a closet on the right of the desk and one against the wall opposite him, next to the door. The closets and the desk were all made from the same dark expensive looking wood.

By the light falling in from the windows he could make out that it was evening already and he could see that they were in the middle of the forest.

Forest… all the memories from the day rushed back to him and when he inspected his body, he saw that he was already healed. A frown marred his small face as he looked at his body in confusion. Okay, this was just ridiculous. He knew that he healed fast, but he had never healed _this_ fast before. He tipped his head to look down and a slightly damp cloth that had been on his forehead fell down on his lap. He looked at it, almost questioningly. 

 _Was someone taking care of me?_  He quickly shook that thought out of his head.  _Not possible._  

He noticed, then, that he was wearing a black shirt—one that was clean and free of any holes, but still too large, with the end of the short sleeves almost covering his entire forearm—A shirt which was definitely _not his._ He just sat there staring at it dumbly.

 _Not possible._ He repeated again, a little desperately. He couldn't deny that there was this small little ball of hope welling up inside of him and that was _bad._ It was just setting himself up for another disappointment. He shook his head. Was this another trap? Would he get punished for being on the bed?

It was probably someone who would trick him again. Like the first time he had trusted a caretaker at the orphanage and he had almost died from food poisoning because of the biscuits she’d given him. And after that, when he had trusted a kid that wanted to play with him, he had been lead to a house filled with drunks who had beaten him inches to his life. These incidents had definitely taught him to be wary and not to trust people too quickly.

This was just another test, probably.

He didn’t want to believe that, though. Really, he really, honestly didn’t. The thought of it alone made his throat close up and his shoulders droop.

He fingered the damp cloth, before deciding that he should stop thinking and carefully set it down on the bedside table.

He slowly made his way out of the bed and to the window on his right. He had a view of what seemed to be the back garden of wherever he was. There were some flowers blossoming in the shrub he saw on the right. The left was a clean field of grass, only disturbed by three what looked like cut tree stumps standing in a perfect line. He wearily followed the tall and elegant black fence spanning the property with his eyes. His eyes flicked upwards and over the sea of treetops he could see the roofs of some other houses in the distance.

He was roughly brought out of his thoughts when his stomach growled loudly. He wrapped his arms around his middle in embarrassment. He hadn't eaten since yesterday night. Because of what had happened this morning, he hadn’t gotten any breakfast and now it seemed that he’d slept through the day. With a heavy feeling in his empty stomach he realized that when he would be sent back to the orphanage, he was probably not getting any dinner either.

At that moment his nose picked up something that smelled delicious and his stomach ached for some food. He walked up to the door and taking a deep breath, stepped out of the room he’d woken up in and found himself in the long second floor corridor. There were six doors on this floor, a staircase to his right that lead up and one on the left, leading down. Following his nose, he went downstairs.

The vestibule was small and he saw a pair of shinobi sandals at the side in a shoe rack, which stood to the right of the front door. It also held four pairs of slippers in various sizes. He wondered if there were five people living here, which seemed likely from all the rooms upstairs, or if the people living here just had some spare ones.

This place was ginormous, so he wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case.

The hallway cupboard, standing to the front door’s left was quite wide and a soft creamy white, there was a wide mirror, the length of the cupboard, hanging on the wall above it. He could just see the top of his head, but not the rest. He glanced at the front door and swallowed loudly. He should probably make a run for it. His mind flashed back to the fence he’d seen and wondered if there was a matching gate, and if it was closed. He looked in the shoe rack again and saw that his own pair of sandals weren’t among them.

His stomach grumbled again and he wondered if he could get something from the garbage before the people that had found him kicked him out again. _If I tried that at the orphanage they’d smack me something good._ He thought bitterly with a small self-deprecating smile.

Turning away from the door, he moved down the corridor, it had a door to the left and one at the end of it. He peeked into the first open door he came across and determined that this was the living room. He didn’t step inside, but he could see two comfortable looking sofa’s set in a sideways L-shape with a table in the middle that was on a really, _really_ wonderfully plush looking carpet. He wondered what it would feel like to sink his feet in that, but shook that thought out of his mind. There was a weirdly empty looking bookcase to the left of the window across from where he was standing, and in the far right corner, to the side and behind the sofa was a door leading to the back of the house probably. He retreated from the room and continued onward. The corridor ended in another door from which the heavenly smells were coming. He paused and looked in confusion to his right. There was a traditional sliding door there, placed into the stairwell, and it seemed slightly out of place. He wondered what it lead to, but decided to ignore it for now and gulped once as he looked at the door at the end of the hall again.

He approached it quietly, his bare feet silent on the wooden floorboards. He slowly turned the handle and was met with the sight of a very large and homey looking kitchen. The cupboards were a dark wood, the counter a light creamy looking stone, which matched the cream-colored tiles at his feet. There was an island in the middle, with two high stools on one end. There were two windows, one on his right, and one in front of him above the sink and a French door, leading to a covered porch.

He gingerly stepped inside. _The tiles aren’t cold_ , was his first thought. Which was weird, because it was _October_ and he knew that all the tiles in the orphanage, as well as being broken and dirty, were always freezing at this time of year. The left side of the kitchen was almost entirely open, there seemed to be an archway instead of a full wall and he got a glance of a wooden table and chairs. _The dining room?_ He wondered.

Naruto almost jumped out of his skin when someone put a hand on his shoulder. As it was, he flinched violently, immediately raising his hand for the blow that he knew was coming, his heart leapt into his throat as he hunched his body together protectively.

When the pain didn’t come, he blinked in confusion and lowered his hand slowly. 

A woman was crouched down on one knee in front of him, hand still half raised. Her face was very white, her blue eyes wide in surprise. Her mouth was pressed into a very thin line.

“I’m sorry,” She whispered softly as she slowly dropped her hand on top of her knee. She smiled ruefully, “I shouldn’t have surprised you like that.”

Naruto stared at her, his mind trying to progress what was happening.

 _Her voice is so kind,_ he thought. And then he realized just what she’d said and he almost panicked as he finally grasped the fact that she’d actually _apologized_ to _him!_

“Sorry for leaving you alone upstairs too, but, really, I was getting hungry and I thought we could both use a meal.” She looked over at him, a slightly frown on her face as she looked over his thin frame.

Her eyes shot back up to meet his and he was surprised to see how sincerely warm they were. She grinned then, her eyes crinkling in the corners as she snickered.

“I should probably introduce myself first, right?” She said as she carefully and slowly sat down and crossed her legs. “I’m Tsukino Miu. This is my home. I found you in the forest, not far from my gates.” Her eyebrows pinched together for a moment, her mouth turning down into a grimace. “You were really in a bad state, so I brought you here and healed you. Talking about that, how are you feeling now?”

Naruto didn’t know what to say. Was this some kind of weird dream?

“I-I’m feeling fine. Thank you.” He said after a while, whispering the last words. The woman beamed at him as if he’d just given her the sun.

“You’re welcome, kid, and I’m glad to hear that.” Tsukino-san jerked her head to the side, where the dining room was. “Well, the food’s done, so let’s eat before it gets cold, okay?” He nodded a bit numbly, feeling very off kilter. Really, things like _this_ didn’t happen to him.

No normal person would offer him food and invite him to join them while they ate.

She got up slowly and he warily watched her hands and legs for any moves, because really, this just had to be a dream, right? He couldn’t remember anyone ever talking with him this long apart from the old man with the weird hat that came by once a month. Tsukino-san went ahead of him into the dining room and pulled out a seat. She gestured him over and he uncertainly took his place. She pushed the chair back in, but not so much that he felt trapped. His eyes followed her, but he couldn’t help but glance at the feast in front of him. It all looked so delicious and his mouth watered at the sight and the wonderful smells. It looked nothing like the food he got from the orphanage that always seemed too black and was always too bitter to eat. She dished him up a plate, filling it generously with everything.

Tsukino-san then went and sat down opposite of him. "I'm sorry it's nothing much, but I wasn't really in the mood to cook long." He looked up at her, a bit shocked. This was nothing much?! It was more food than he had ever gotten to eat in his life! He just shook his head and hesitantly picked up the chopsticks. He looked up again, and the woman just smiled at him and clapped her hands together, saying an 'Itadakimasu' before picking up her own chopstick and starting to eat. Naruto just watched her and he looked down at his food again. He took a hesitant bite and immediately closed his eyes in bliss. He couldn’t help a small sigh from escaping. He saw Tsukino-san grin as he dug in with gusto, seeing that it was not a bad one, but rather one filled with satisfaction.

They both ate in a companionable silence and Naruto felt so grateful for this warm meal. The break in constant hostility was so, so welcome and his throat closed up at the feeling of relief that washed through him. He pushed that aside for the moment, so he could properly enjoy his food.

Naruto cleaned up everything off his plates and felt pleasantly full. He looked up across the table to find Tsukino-san watching him with a small smile. He blushed under her warm gaze and ducked his head again.

“Um, thank you for the food Tsukino-san. It was delicious.” He said softly, chancing another glance up. The woman’s smile widened.

“I’m very glad you liked it.” She responded, equally soft. Her gaze looked him over, taking in his features in a way that made his throat constrict painfully again. He bit his lower lip and lowered his gaze to the table.

“You didn’t tell me your name.” Naruto startled and looked up. The woman was looking at him intently, a curious half smile on her lips. And all of a sudden he felt his heart sink into his stomach.

No wonder she’d treated him so nicely! The woman didn’t know who he was. The _second_ he said his name there would be a glare on her face and she’d kick him out without a moment’s hesitation.

He clenched his eyes shut and hunched in on himself. He didn’t want to tell her. He didn’t want to see the coldness in her eyes. Just the thought of her warm blue eyes giving him that—that _look_ , it made him feel splintered and raw inside.

Just a bit longer…for just a bit longer he wanted to hold onto this illusion of kindness before it was taken away from him again.

 _Please,_ he begged her in his mind. The weight of the words inside of him felt so unbearably _heavy_ on his chest—so heavy he could barely breathe.

The next moment he knew there was a warm arm around his shoulders, pulling him—and suddenly he was incased in warmth and softness. He wanted to pull back, scared—absolutely terrified of feeling this _safe_ , it couldn’t last, he shouldn’t hope. But she just pulled him closer and she was rubbing soothing circles onto his back and she was whispering against his temple,

“Sh, it’s okay, you’re okay, kid, I’ve got you. Sh—”

And he felt like his heart was shattering inside his chest and he just begged her.

“Please, please, please—” His litany of pleas begging for her to let go, to not let go, to help him because he was breaking and he didn’t know how he’d fix himself again after this. He just let go then, burying his nose in the soft fabric of her shirt and her scent was soft and sweet. There was vanilla, chocolate and the familiar scent of green tea. It smelled like all the things he couldn’t have, it smelled of _comfort._

He calmed down enough to become aware of the fact that she was gently rocking him and he was sat in the woman’s lap and that he’d thrown his arms around her neck, his hands fisted in the back of her shirt.

“…nothing to apologize for, Shh, it’s okay—” And he wondered why she was saying that, until he realized that his litany of pleas had changed to hoarsely whispered,

“I’m sorry, so sorry, I’m sorry—”

But he did have to apologize, because he was deceiving this woman and he couldn’t bear to tell her the truth, but lying was bad and was always, _always_ severely punished. He didn’t care at this moment, though. Right now, there was warmth and comfort and he drank it all in, knowing he would never get his fill ever again.

After a while, he went quiet when he realized with some small part at the back of his mind that she was humming softly, which, combined with the rocking calmed the storm raging inside of him. It brought a lump to his throat again, though, that this stranger who didn’t even know his name was just hugging him, was giving out this precious comfort of hers so freely. It was the first time he remembered being held this way.

This warmth…

There was nothing else like it.

* * *

 

Miu felt so incredibly lost as the child seemed to fold in on himself as she asked him his name. The despair in his eyes as some kind of realization hit him, tore through her and she was at his side a second later, hovering, unsure if she should touch him. He’d started trembling though, whispering pleas and she just went with her instincts and pulled the child onto her lap as she sat down on the ground.

She tried to calm him, whispering comforting words before the child started apologizing and she just couldn’t understand _why_ and what exactly had set him off. Did he not want to reveal his identity? Why? So that he couldn’t be sent back? Was that even the problem? He was crying, still apologizing between hiccups and sobs. He was so obviously in serious emotional anguish and she just didn’t know what to _do_.

Desperate to calm him down, and forcing her own frustrated tears down, she closed her eyes and began humming a song her mother had loved to sing to her. Finally, _finally_ the boy calmed down as Miu slowly rocked him. He clung to her, his nose buried against her shoulder and Miu just held him, her cheek resting against his hair.

She felt so immensely tired and she had a massive headache and she had a feeling that she would start sobbing herself if she didn’t control herself. Actually, she’d really appreciate some green tea right about now, or some hot chocolate would be nice too. A stiff drink would not go amiss either. Miu’s lips twitched into a small smirk and she rolled her eyes at her own melodrama. Just—

“Hey, kid,” She murmured softly. “I could really do with some tea right now, and I could make you a cup of hot chocolate, if you could just let me go for a second.” His head emerged from her shoulder and he blushed a bright red which made Miu smile.

But then his eyes filled with horror and he started stammering apologies again.

“Hey,” Miu said, not unkindly, but definitely a bit more stern. “Enough of that.” She smiled down in amusement at the surprised look she was receiving and Miu just rolled her eyes.

“No more apologizing, please. You’ve done nothing wrong.” She got up, then, bringing the kid up with her and settling him on her hip. The boy gave a surprised squeak and wrapped his legs and arms around her tightly, just like a little monkey and she had to grin at that image. She shook the slight stiffness out of her legs, before she made her way over to the counter, where she carefully set him on the worktable beside the stove. She yawned once, covering her mouth with a hand and she chuckled as the boy followed her example a few seconds later.

She put up the water to boil and pulled out a small pot and heated up the milk, she threw in a cinnamon stick and got the cacao powder out.

“You know, they say that yawns are contagious.” Upon seeing his confused look she clarified, “something that can spread from person to person.”

“Who’s they?” The boy asked, curiously and Miu applauded herself, for this was the first time that the kid had said anything other than sorry and thank you without being prompted.                                                 

“Scientists,” She got a spoon and waved it around. “say that you’d have to be looking at the person for it to catch, or at least pay them some attention. It’s connected to empathy, which means that it happens because humans can identify with other people’s feelings, thoughts, or attitudes.” She explained. “But apparently some people yawn when they hear or read the word.” She looked considering at the blond and he looked up at her, tilting his head slightly in question.

“Yawn,” She said and started laughing as the boy did just that. He sputtered for a bit, before letting out an indignant “Hey!” and Miu just laughed harder. The boy follow soon after, and the sound of his high childish laughter lightened her heart considerably, _He can still laugh_ , the thought brought her enormous relief.

She finished his hot chocolate and the kid watched in interest as she poured in some vanilla sugar and mixed it all, pouring it into a warm orange mug with the Konoha leaf symbol, like the one on her headband, which she’d received as a welcome present from Anko. Miu picked up her own favorite dark blue one which had a cherry blossom branch with blooming pink flowers curling around it, poured her tea and added three spoons of sugar.

She got the blond down from the counter and put him down on the floor. She got the two mugs and left the kitchen in favor of the living room. Putting down the cups on the dark wooden table, she settled on a grey-blue sitting pillow and pulled out another one from underneath the table for the kid.

He was still at the entrance, looking around the room in wonder. His eyes went over to the bookcase, the one on that stood next to the door and filled the rest of the wall and looked in astonishment at the various books and scrolls.

“That’s a lot of books.” He said. Miu grinned.

“I have a whole library upstairs, these are just books I need most frequently.” She didn’t mention that she hadn’t entered the library after that one time six months ago. The boy looked suitably impressed.

He stepped onto the fluffy carpet and Miu watched with amusement as the boy just wiggled his toes for a second with a satisfied grin on his face. He sat down next to her then, closing his hands carefully around the warm mug, eyes falling shut as he took in the aroma of the chocolate. A peculiar expression passed over his features and he glanced up from his hot chocolate, to her and then back again. She wondered what he was thinking about.

“Be careful drinking it, it’s still really hot.” She cautioned as the boy seemed about to take a sip. He shot her another odd look and Miu wondered what was weird about what she’d said to bring that particular expression to his face. She took a sip of her tea and closed her eyes to breathe in the subtly sweet aroma. She hummed, feeling contently warm as she held the rim of her cup pressed against her lower lip, hands curled up around the cup to soak up the heat.

She opened an eye and smiled into her cup as the boy took a sip. He, too, hummed in pleasure and Miu grinned.

“Glad you like it,” She commented lightly and the boy turned wide, happy eyes on her. She hadn’t yet seen him this animated and it gave her a warm feeling.

“It’s so _sweet!”_ He said, almost bouncing on his pillow, a huge smile on his face. “It’s delicious and so, so _warm._ ” The boy didn’t seem to be able to describe the soothing feeling of the hot chocolate any better and Miu smiled again, the corners of her mouth only quirking slightly if a bit sadly.

“It’s a special secret family recipe.” She said in a whisper, as if sharing a secret. She always took a lot of comfort in the warm drink. The memories of her dad making it for her made it all the more precious.

The boy’s eyes twinkled in wonder as he took another careful sip. He was finally calm again, happy even and Miu hated that she had to bring up things that would surely upset him. She really had to get his name out of him, his age and his address would be handy to have too. For some odd reason her stomach twisted at the thought of sending him away already and she wondered if someone had already notified the police that the boy was missing. A small voice in the back of her head cynically asked if the people he stayed with had even taken the _effort_ to file a missing person’s report.

She swallowed heavily. No, the boy would definitely be missed right? She glanced at him and felt fury well up again inside. Her hands itched with the desire to strangle the bastard that hurt the kid. How could anyone do that to _any child,_ anyhow? It made her absolutely sick to her stomach.

But she really had to get the full situation before she made any decision.

“Where is your family?” He asked, suddenly, breaking Miu out of her thoughts. His voice was soft and the question ended with a note of caution as if he realized what he’d said just as he finished saying it. Miu’s lips thinned into a small line, almost flinching at the question and she swallowed, feeling utterly ridiculous that a simple childish enquiry hurt this much.

Her voice was flat as she responded, “They’re dead.”

“Oh,” She could see the boy pale and backpaddle. “I’m sorry,” he whispered then and Miu smiled humorlessly. She turned her eyes on him and he looked back, a bit wary.

“Where is yours?” She asked in return, her voice gentle. His eyes shot down and he clenched his hands into tiny fists.

“They’re dead, too.” There was a slight questioning tone to his answer as if he wasn’t sure. She filed that away for later as she turned back to her mug and hummed.

“I’m sorry to hear that.” The boy gave a half-shrug as if he didn’t know how to react to that. “So, you live at the orphanage, then?” Miu added lightly. They boy swallowed thickly and she knew that she’d gotten it right.

Miu glanced at the child and wondered…

“Were the people at the orphanage the ones who hurt you?” Her voice had come out frostier and harsher than she had intended and the boy flinched. His eyes shot up to look at her and Miu carefully concealed the anger she was feeling. It wouldn’t do for the boy to think that she was angry at him.

He shook his head, but the gesture belied the truth in his eyes.

“Not supposed to tell.” He whispered to himself and Miu narrowed her eyes, figuring that he hadn’t meant for her to hear.

Miu reached out and the boy flinched away from her hand, shooting her a fearful look. Miu kept her eyes gentle, ignoring the sharp pang of pain in her chest, her hand still halfway to the boy. When he relaxed slightly, still looking at her hand cautiously, Miu moved it to gently cup his cheek. The boy closed his eyes and leant into the touch. He had a pained look on his face and Miu figured the boy hadn’t been given many gentle touches if he reacted like this.

“You have to let me help you, child.” She told him gently. “If those people hurt you, I can’t let you go back there.”

The boy pulled back from her hand slightly and Miu let it run through his hair once, to the back of his neck, where she gave a gentle squeeze of comfort. She withdrew her hand and Miu watched as the boy seemed to decide something.

He looked up and she was taken aback by the amount of fear and trepidation that she saw there.

“My name,” The boy whispered, as if he feared revealing it, as if it was some kind of dirty secret. “My name is Uzumaki Naruto.”

OMAKE

**Minato & Kushina**

There was a couple sat on a grassy field, the sky above them a brilliant blue. They sat at the edge of a lake, which reflected what its viewers wanted to see the most. Mostly, people came here to watch the people they had left behind. A gentle breeze swayed the blades of grass beneath them and made the leaves of the tree that stood sturdily behind them rustle gently.

This was a corner of heaven where people could watch the living.

The beauty of the place was lost on the couple as they kept their eyes on the images in the lake. The red-headed woman was crying, clinging to her blond-haired companion. They sat there, watching over the living world. They both had a look of agonizing pain, regret, sadness, longing and love on their face. Reflected in the river they saw a malnourished and hurt four-year old boy, lying against a tree trunk, the pain softening away from his face as he finally drifted off into sleep.

The two of them had been watching him all this time, every step of the way. Every day for almost five years now. They’d seen every hateful word, every hit, every bruise. They’d been a witness to his pain and his tears, but also to his stubborn determination, his anger, the feeling of inadequacy that unjustly plagued him. They’d seen how he’d grown, despite being denied meals, how he’d scrape his food together out of waste bins, how he tried so hard to get the approval of the people around him.

They could only watch helplessly, absolutely powerless to help their son.

It broke their hearts.

When the two of them had died, Kushina had gone to heaven and Minato had been eaten by the Shinigami, doomed to fight the Kyuubi for all eternity. But because of his selfless sacrifice to his village, saving millions of people, while knowing full well the consequences of his actions, Kami had decided to grant Minato's soul heaven.

"Minato…" She whispered. Her voice rough and strained by tears and sadness. Minato tightened his grip on his red-headed companion.

"Yeah, Kushina-chan?" he whispered in an equally tired voice.

"I…I can't watch him like this anymore. Naruto doesn’t deserve this…" Her breath caught in her throat, a familiar prickling beginning in her nose and in her swollen eyes, her usual fire dimmed by the grief of seeing their child so broken and not being able to do anything about it. Minato screwed his eyes shut, clenching his teeth as he answered.

"I know, Kushina-chan. I know." He had sacrificed his son, his life for a village that now treated their savior as if he were absolute trash. And it hurt him, because he had wanted a happy life for Naruto. He had wanted a happy life for the villagers too. He had wanted them to see his son as the hero that had saved them, not as the monster he had defeated. The disappointment and grief felt bitter on his tongue. "It's terrible that they see Naruto as the fox instead of the hero that saved them. I really thought that they would understand… I didn't want Naruto to bear this burden alone." Minato told his wife. She closed her eyes and leaned closer to him.

He had been the Hokage. Kushina knew it was his duty to protect his village and all the villagers in it. Even if it meant that Minato would die and leave their son to bear the burden that he had left him with.

Kushina took a deep breath and tried to calm down. She took a look at her son again, drinking in his features, as she had done so many times before. She tried to smile for him. "Naruto's become even cuter over the years. He's totally your miniature self."

Minato smiled. "He's got the shape of your face and his nose is definitely yours."

Kushina made a noise in the back of her throat, agreeing with him. "He's a bit on the thin side though. If I were there, I would probably be feeding him tons and tons. I… would have him started on chakra training and he would be friends with Mikoto's son. Sasuke, right? And Hikari's cute child Hinata. Maybe they’ll end up together when they're older." She sniggered. "Ah, but I don't think it’ll be that easy for him. All those Hyuuga's are so uptight— absolutely no sense of humor. Hikari is probably the only one that can smile and not have her face crack.” She clucked her tongue in disdain as she waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. “I swear all of them have a stick up their ass the size of the Hokage tower!" Minato and Kushina both grinned.

"If I was there, I would kiss him goodnight, and read him a story every night." Minato continued. "We would all have diner together, unless one of us was on a mission. I wonder what he would think about me being the Hokage. Would he be proud? Or would he hate me for the big shoes he has to fill?

“We would all go to Ichiraku's and all have some ramen. I would take countless of pictures of us as a family. And of course with Kakashi-kun, too. When he was older, I would teach him the Rasengan and Hirashin. He would probably love the jutsu library that we have built in these years."

Kushina nodded against his shoulder. Her lips thinned and Minato knew what she was thinking.  _If, if…Only if._ They couldn’t do anything but watch.

"If only someone… someone cared enough. I wish Naruto had someone to love him, like we would have loved him…" Kushina closed her eyes, her face a study in grief as she said it. Minato hugged his wife closer to his side, echoing her wish with a desperation only a parent could feel.

* * *

 

**Hiroshi & Kazumi**

Up in heaven another pair sat at the river of life. They watched their daughter with pride reflected in their eyes, glad that she had grown into a beautiful, strong and responsible woman.

"Miu’s wind techniques are developing quite nicely," Hiroshi, Miu's dad remarked to his wife. “Did you see how she handled those thugs?”

"She got that move from you, dear." His wife responded with a grin.

They both laughed at her scarfing down dango's with her friend.

“I’m glad.” Kazumi whispered. “Konoha’s calmed her down. It’s just a shame—”

“A shame that we couldn’t have introduced her to it properly.” Her husband continued and she nodded. He smiled then. “But I’m glad she made proper friends. She’s settling in, slowly but steadily.”

"True. I'm glad that we're still able to see watch over her from here, even though she may not know it. It's been only six months, but I'm so proud to have seen her grow like that. I just wish I could have told her." Kazumi just nodded her head. And they both sat there watching as their sixteen year old daughter went home.

The two of them suddenly focused again as they saw a familiar blond.

"Hey, isn't that…" Kazumi began, as she saw the bleeding child her daughter brought home.

"I think it is. Minato's kid, right?"

Hiroshi and Kazumi looked up as the mist on their right side began to dissolve. Two figures became visible, slowly revealing a familiar blond and redhead. Both of the couples looked at each other in shock. Kushina and Kazumi both raised a finger at the other at the same time.

"Aaaah!" they both cried out.

"Kushina!" "Kazumi!" The two women bellowed at the same time again. They both got up and ran into each other's arms, not really believing they were meeting their friend here in heaven.

The men finally snapped out of the shock and got up too.

"Hiroshi!" Minato called out with a grin on his face.

"Minato, how have you been?!" Hiroshi called back just as enthusiastically. The two met each other in the middle of the clearing and embraced each other in a manly hug.

When both couples were finally done, they broke out of their hugs and looked their friends over again with a smile.

"I can't believe you guys are here!" Hiroshi commented.

"Yeah! How is this even possible?" Kushina replied.

Conveniently, just at that moment an angel arrived. And all of their eyes turned to him. "I'll explain it to you."


	2. Who you really are

“Uzumaki Naruto,” Miu softly repeated. She smiled. “It’s a very nice name.” She commented lightly. The boy’s— _Naruto’s_ , she corrected in her head—mouth dropped in stunned surprise and he looked like he was waiting for the other shoe to drop. Her eyes softened.

“Naruto-kun, why is it that you were so scared of telling me your name?” She asked, voice still gentle and soothing. She saw the emotions war on his face, fear, indecision and the determination that he’d shown her before he’d told her his name.

The determination won. “I—A lot of people know my name,” He whispered and she wondered why that was. Uzumaki wasn’t really a common name, she only knew of one other and she was dead.

She blinked once and took the boy in again, as if seeing him for the first time. Just now noting the blue eyes and the blond spikey hair and the damn _name_ in relation to someone else. Could that be possible? Her mother had told her that Kushina-san had been pregnant, but… hadn’t that child been lost in the Kyuubi attack? The back of her neck prickled. This could bear some looking into.

He shot her a pleading look, as if begging her to understand. “I—I really don’t know, but they don’t like me. The,” He swallowed thickly and hunched his shoulders, his voice going even softer as if afraid that they might hear him. “The caretakers at the orphanage, they—” He didn’t seem to be able to say it.

“They were the ones that hurt you.” The boy gave one jerky nod in affirmation and Miu closed her eyes against the rage again. “Is that the first time that’s happened, Naruto-kun?” She asked, when she knew that her voice or her face wouldn’t betray her anger.

He shot her another pleading look and it was mixed with part disbelief and part thankfulness and she wondered if that was because she believed what he was saying.

He fidgeted on his seat, one hand twisting into the fabric of his borrowed shirt and shook his head in distress. “I—I don’t understand. T-they really _hate_ me and I don’t know _why_.” He blurted out. That was enough answer and Miu suddenly got a sick feeling in her gut.

“When did it start?” He shook his head, a despairing look on his face. She closed her hand over his much, much smaller one and squeezed gently. “When did it start, Naruto?” She asked again, an edge in her voice.

“It was never any different.” He whispered, before his whole body shuddered with the force of his sob. He broke down crying, hunching in on himself, hugging his knees to his chest; the position of a child that could not find comfort anywhere else.

Miu’s throat constricted painfully and she swallowed as she carefully pulled the child between her legs and hugged him. The boy stiffened, before melting into the contact and she bit her lip to not start crying too.

“I r-ran away from there, because it was getting really bad.” He whispered in between sobs. “It would have been dangerous if I hadn’t left, because my wounds wouldn’t have healed in time.” _In time for the next beating,_ were the unspoken words.

“That was smart, child. You did well.” She said softly. Miu brushed a hand through his hair as she tried to calm herself down. She was feeling absolutely murderous. My god, she would report this as soon as this kid was asleep and _for life_ would be good enough for the people that had broken him like this. She wondered how many other children got abused there and was afraid of the answer.

“Naruto, do they hurt anyone else?” He gave a jerky shake of his head, before laying back down against her shoulder.

“N-no. Only me, because I do what they ask of me so that they won’t ever hurt anyone else.” Miu’s blood froze in her veins. She felt bile rise in the back of her throat. _Emotional blackmail. They emotionally blackmailed a child. God, what kind of monsters did that to him?_  

“Naruto,” She didn’t know what to ask first. ‘ _Why would they not hurt anyone else when you did as you were told?_ ’ or _‘What did they ask of you?_ ’ When her frantic thoughts led her to various scenarios, some of which made her stomach turn, she wanted to follow up with ‘ _Did they touch you anywhere inappropriate—_ ’ God, she couldn’t do this.

She went with the first question and hoped he would tell her what she wanted to know.

“They say I’m a monster.” His whole body tensed as he said this, the tiny fist that had a hold on the hem of her shirt tightened until his knuckles turned white.

Miu felt flabbergasted. _What? What monster?_ _How could they even think that?_

But the boy continued and Miu felt all the blood drain from her face. “The villagers too. They whisper it behind my back.” He hunched in on himself, as if expecting a blow. “I’m sorry that I’m a monster.”

For a second she felt like she would explode, her hands trembled with the effort not to jump up and get some justice. She didn’t open her mouth for fear of shouting.

“You,” Miu finally began, her voice was even, but there was still a hard edge to it. “are _not a monster.”_ She said and gently lifted the boy’s face. He was looking over her shoulder, not meeting her eyes.

“Naruto, look at me, please.” The boy’s eyes shot to hers at the plea and his eyes widened a fraction.

“You are not a monster.” She repeated. “Those people are absolutely ridiculous and have lost their minds.” She grit her teeth then, her voice steely as she continued. “And you _will not, ever again,_ apologize for being one.” She looked into his eyes and saw the tears, saw the disbelief and what seemed like a lifetime of pain warring with the hope, the deepest desire to accept her words as the truth.

“Is that understood?” She asked. And the boy nodded.

“Yes, Tsukino-san.” Miu nodded.

“Good,” She acknowledged. She knew that he’d have to hear it more than once to accept it, but at least this was a beginning. “And you come to me when you’re in doubt and think you’re suddenly growing sharp teeth and claws, okay?”

The boy giggled and it was an absolutely delightful sound. His little arms circled around her waste in a shy hug and Miu smiled, gently rocking the boy as she tightened her own arms a fraction. She closed her eyes. How weird was it that having this small child hugging her could calm her down so much. _A child’s magic_ , she thought, her smile widening.

“The caretakers said I should always eat last. I’m to stay away from the other children, lest I contaminate them.” He said, so obviously reciting something that he’d been hearing a lot. Miu’s smile instantly disappeared from her face, her lips pursing into a thin line and eyes opening to glare at the wall as the boy went on.

“I-I’m not allowed to play with them or touch their toys. When there is a family visiting I’m not to be seen or heard.” He paused, before continuing in a musing tone. “I’ve learned that not being seen and heard is a good thing.” His voice lowered to almost a whisper, “They can’t hit you when they’ve forgotten that you’re there.”

Miu closed her eyes, resting her cheek against the blonde’s mop of hair. The boy’s comment struck something deep inside of her and she had to swallow a few times to get rid of the thing stuck in her throat.

Why would they pick Naruto for this? What in the world had the child done, that in their eyes, condoned their treatment of him? 

The isolation, the beatings, the verbal abuse—

_They say I’m a monster._

_What does that mean?_ She thought frantically. She felt like it was the key to something huge that she was missing, but what was it? Even the villagers said it? Everyone knew what this was about?

If, and that was a big if, this child was indeed Namikaze Minato’s and Uzumaki Kushina’s, how could they treat him like that? Why was he in an orphanage being treated like dirt? Why did he have his mother’s last name instead of his father’s?

_They say I’m a monster._

The boy, obvious to her inner distress, continued reciting the ridiculous rules he had been forced to obey. “When the nice man in the weird hat comes, I can’t tell that anything is wrong, but for that day, I get the good food and I get to wear some of the newer clothes. The jii-san brings me sweets sometimes and they are always delicious.” Miu’s eyes widened.

“Naruto, are you talking about the Hokage?” She asked, her voice rising in pitch. The boy nodded against her shoulder. “Why,” She cleared her throat as her mind was feverishly working to figure this out. “Why does the Hokage visit you?” The boy gave a half shrug, but then shrunk back down again, as if expecting a blow for that action.

When he figured out she wasn’t going to hit him, he answered. “He comes once a month, just to check up on me.”

The Hokage knew. He knew what was going on. Did he know of the treatment? Could an abused boy really act as if nothing was wrong? Could a trained shinobi like the Hokage not _see_ what was right in front of him?

Why would the Hokage even check up on an ordinary child?

“Naruto does the Hokage… _check up_ on anyone else at the orphanage?” The boy rubbed his cheek against her shoulder and he hummed.

“No, only me.” He said finally and Miu swallowed. “I don’t tell him anything. I always pretend I’m one of the normal kids, so that he never realizes…” Then in a whisper. “They say that if I follow these rules, they’ll never hurt another kid. So I stay away and eat last and—” He broke off in a sob, his whole body shuddering with the force of it.

“ _Why,_ ” It was a sobbed whine, a plea to understand. “I—I _try_! I try so h-hard to be g-good, but it’s not enough. It’s never good e-enough.” He cried into her shoulder. “What did I d-do? I promise I’d do better if someone just _told_ me.”

Miu’s face crumpled. She hugged the kid close, brushing a hand through his hair.

Her voice was hoarse when she spoke. “It’s nothing you did wrong, child. They’re just seeing something that isn’t there and they’re taking it out on you. It’s—It’s nothing you could make up for.” She swallowed thickly, realizing as she was saying it that she’d told the truth.

He looked up at her then, two pair of blue eyes meeting each other, one sad, the other not understanding, weary, _accusing_. “Why are you being so nice to me?” He asked, his voice hoarse from crying and the raw pain she heard in his words. “Are you here to hurt me too? Is this another punishment?” The question was like a kick to the gut and Miu looked away as she quickly tried to blink away the tears filling her eyes.

She took a deep breath and looked back into those blue eyes that were waiting, waiting… _A test_ , she realized suddenly, this was a test to see if she would lash out at him.

She gave him a watery half smile and raised a hand, slowly. The boy watched, cautious, closing his eyes as she gently cupped his cheek again. He made a pained noise in the back of his throat and opened his eyes again.

Miu’s eyes were bright with her tears, but so were his. “No, child,” She whispered softly. “No, this is no punishment. I wouldn’t hurt you. Why would I? You’ve done nothing wrong.” The boy gave her an incredulous look. “Besides,” She continued. “No one should hurt a child. Not even if they’ve been bad or _have_ done something wrong.” She brushed her thumb over the tear tracks on his cheek.

She gave him a very intent look.

“Naruto, the people that hurt children, they are the monsters.” Miu saw the protest rising in his eyes and shook her head. “No, Naruto. The people that hurt you are _bad_ , you cannot hurt a child. _Ever._ ”

She smiled softly. “And, you are such a nice and polite young boy, why wouldn’t I be nice to you?” She wanted to say that is was common sense to be nice and polite and to get help for small beaten up orphans—but all the people around Naruto seemed to lose that important part of basic human decency, so she kept quiet.

She brushed at the whisker like markings on his cheek and froze.

_They say I’m a monster._

Miu closed her eyes. “Naruto, when is your birthday?” She asked softly. The boy looked up at her and he looked cautious, slightly panicky.

“O-October 10th.” _Of course._ She smiled sadly.

“Almost here, huh? How old will you be?” She asked him gently. The boy gave her a careful smile and raised a small hand.

“Five years old.” She grinned against the immense pain in her chest.

“Well, I’ll definitely have to make you a yummy birthday cake, then!” She declared. They boy’s eyes widened and there was a small amount of disbelief there.

“Really?” He asked, a skeptical tone to the boy’s voice.

“Of course! I make some of the best cakes, you know.” Her grin faltered and she pulled the boy into a hug again.

“Tsukino-san?” The boy asked, surprised.

“I’m so sorry people have treated you so badly, Naruto.” Her voice was thick as she whispered it. “I’m so sorry.”  

It was their child.

Minato-san, ingenious with seals, Hokage, slayer of the Kyuubi.

_As if._

Ever so gently, she brushed her chakra against his and found the seal on his stomach, right around his navel.

How could she have forgotten the fox? She had clearly felt him all the way to where she’d been staying in Fire Country. The fox had been giving off such a menacing and killer aura, shocking her awake, sending a spike of terror down her bones—

According to a small volume she’d found in her clan library, where the author had speculated on the tailed beasts, they were pure chakra and _you couldn’t destroy chakra._ That's why she had always wondered about the explanation that her parents had given her regarding the huge amount of materialized chakra that was the kyuubi. She had had millions of questions when she had been studying seals and she’d seen her parents’ doubt, but they had kept it quiet. It made sense that a genius like Minato-san could have found a way to seal the kyuubi away.

But sealing it away…in his _own child_. Miu felt sick to her stomach.

Minato-san had the choice between saving his village and sacrificing his son—but of course as the Hokage, as the man he was, with the amount of honor he had…

How cruel to be forced to make a decision like that.

His son, a container for the most powerful of the tailed beasts. A _Jinchuuriki—_ what a disgusting word.

She looked at the boy again and saw the shadows in his eyes. He looked so tired, so weary. It was a look that was misplaced on his small childish face. That look shouldn’t be there, didn’t belong on someone so young. But she could also see the worry in his eyes, the questions running through his mind. _Why would you apologize?_ She’d seen him laugh, he’d hugged her back and he hadn’t flinched when she’d hugged him this time.

He was nothing but a child with a burden placed on his shoulders. Only fools would see a monster in this boy’s gentle eyes and soft hands.

_Just a child._

“You don’t have to apologize, Tsukino-san.”

Really, if she wasn’t going to apologize, who would?

“Someone has to, child.” She pulled back and looked at him, his blue eyes were filled with confusion. Miu’s heart ached for the boy. “How many people have treated you like a normal kid, apart from the Hokage? How many have given you a kind word or a gentle touch? How many have honestly made you smile.” The boy looking away was answer enough.

“Someone…” Miu cleared her throat as her voice broke. “Someone should have noticed sooner, someone should have done something to stop this _abuse_.” She bit out the word. “They had _no right_ to hurt you like that, no right to deny you proper food or lock you up.” The boy sobbed into her shoulder and she rocked the boy again, gently swaying her body from side to side.

For the villagers to treat him like they did, they knew of the fox. How? If everyone knew, then this wasn’t some secret. Was it once and had someone told? Or found out from something happening to the seal? Or had the Hokage told them?

The villagers, if they knew…the hate and fear would make them blind to his smiling face, to his bright eyes and his strong will. They would only see the kyuubi; the beast that had killed their parents, brothers and sisters, friends, and their dear Hokage… not knowing that this kid was his only heir and legacy.

“I’m so sorry no one ever did.” She whispered then. “I’m sorry no one ever noticed your pain and helped you.

“You didn’t deserve this. Any of this. You’re _good_. You’re a good boy, Naruto. The people that hurt you, they were the bad ones. You’re not a monster at all. You’re just Uzumaki Naruto. You are just a boy—just a _child_.”

And the child in her arms sobbed and cried. He clung to her, desperate for her touch, desperate for an anchor as he started on the process of working through all the pain that was dealt to him in his short life and maybe, maybe he could slowly start healing.

* * *

 

Naruto felt like he was being cleaned—of his so called mistakes, of the glares and the beatings and every bad word anyone had ever uttered against him.

No one, _no one_ had ever apologized for these things before. Tsukino-san shouldn’t have to, but he soaked up every word she whispered into his hair—feeling that he would shatter if he didn’t. The words were like glue, carefully putting pieces of him back together.

The realization of how much he’d needed to hear those words was like a blow, squeezing all the air out of him until he felt that he would be crushed under the feeling. But Tsukino-san’s soft hands and deceptively strong arms as she held him elevated that feeling, protected him from losing himself. The embrace whispered _safe, safe, safe_ and he knew he finally was, with her.  

* * *

 

Miu wouldn’t send him back, she’d decided. And she was not going to the police. She’d go directly to the Hokage instead and _ask_ him about this. Could he not have _seen_ what was going on? She ignored the other option, the one where the man had _purposefully_ _left_ an abused boy in an abusive environment, ignoring all the signs, because she could absolutely not stomach it.

She had to know though.

Miu had taken her scroll containing her medical seal downstairs to the living room and had settled in front of the table on one of her comfortable sitting cushions. Naruto had over the hour progressed from leaning against her shoulder and asking an array of question that Miu enjoyed answering to laying on her lap, with Miu absentmindedly carding a hand through his hair as she amended small details to the design of her medical seal.

It was basically a safe, seal-version of a tourniquet, where ninja’s or injured civilians didn’t run the risk of bleeding out or having to have a limb amputated, while trying to stem the bleeding of a wound. Besides that it would stimulate the injured party’s chakra, in addition to the chakra of the person that was powering the seal, to help heal the wound. It was not an instant solution to an injury, but it would help enough so that the person didn’t bleed to death until they could get decent medical attention.

And sometimes, she knew, that could make all the difference in the world.

Miu wanted to test it, so she had to run it by the Hokage and some other experts from R&D before it could possibly be used as a devise that could save lives and limbs in the field and in the hospital. She’d been working on this for almost a year, had planned it for over four months, before finally starting on drawing the various components that would go into it. There had been heaps and heaps of paper work involved and she knew that she would be called in to explain it.

For now, she was just working out some kinks, small things that would make it more efficient and not drain the one powering the seal.

Naruto sighed softly and she realized she’d been humming softly, the same soothing song her mother had sung for her. Miu felt her heart twinge and warm up at the same time. She wouldn’t ever admit it to anyone, but she’d not felt this content and at peace since she came here. Her home was different with someone else in it, warmer, homier and Miu didn’t even want to think how it would feel once Naruto would leave. There was a selfish voice inside of her screaming to just keep him here, that he was far better off here than anywhere else, but that wasn’t necessarily true.

For one, she was only sixteen, what did she know of raising a child? She worked and went on missions and she couldn’t possibly expect him to just stay here all alone for days on end. Miu was liking this right now, but what if she didn’t in a few weeks? What if she tired of taking care of another child? She felt her heart roar in defiance at that claim. She was already way too invested in the boy. She glanced down at him. He had his eyes closed, fingers drawing invisible masterpieces on her leg and he had a content smile on his face. She looked away, the sight making her want to laugh and cry and hug the boy senseless.

What about her training to become a jounin? Miu blinked and realized she really didn’t mind. There was no hurry aside from being able to take on a genin team. She could wait. Besides that, Naruto had been abused, Miu would have to be extra patient, extra careful.

This was a really big commitment with a lot of responsibility attached to it. She absolutely _could not_ make this decision lightly.

She felt the sudden urge to discuss this with her parents, desperately wanting their advice. Her ears started ringing, that wave of despair and grief hitting her again as she realized that she couldn’t anymore. She bit her lip and closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down before she burst into tears in front of Naruto. She concentrated on the feeling of the child making finger drawings on her thigh, of his body’s weight and warmth, on the feel of the child’s hair between her fingers and felt herself calm down again.

 _I don’t want him to leave._ That was one thing she knew for sure. In just this short span of time she’d started to care and she knew of herself that once she started caring, she would not let go. But she could never force him to stay, either. _I want him to be happy and safe._ Definitely something else she was sure about. If it was decided that he wouldn’t live here, she’d find him a family that would treat him right, she ignored the pang that thought brought.

The most important thing was to see what _he_ wanted. She had to make sure the boy knew what he was getting into—that she was a kunoichi and she went on missions and that she had absolutely no experience with being a guardian. She’d let him live with her for a week, before he could decide on where to go from there…Stay here, or find a different family to take him.

She knew she’d definitely decided on one thing, however.

“I’m not letting you go back to the orphanage.” She declared softly. The boy stiffened, his head coming up to look at her so fast she internally winced. He turned large, panicked eyes on her and pulled away from her.

“What?”

“You can’t go back there, Naruto. I’m not letting them hurt you again. You’ve stayed there long enough, suffered long enough.” She explained gently, not understanding what had the boy so upset. The boy shook his head a few times, eyes desperate.

"But… but that's the only place I have! I have nowhere else to go. Even if I don't want to, I have no other choice but to go back to the orphanage.” Miu’s heart constricted at the bleak view of this child’s life. “Even though I’ve lived on the streets a few times,” He continued and Miu blinked.

_What?_

“I can’t in this season! It’s October and it’s definitely getting colder! I’ll freeze to death!” Miu’s insides seemed to turn into ice at the realization that the kid had actually lived on the streets, that he knew even as a child this young that he could freeze if he stayed out there now. Miu swallowed and quickly composed herself, pushing this revelation away to think about later and addressed the biggest issue right now.

To hell with all her insecurities. Time to start that plan.

"You're wrong, Naruto." She said. Gaining all of his attention again. "You do have another place to go to." Naruto's eyes widened and she could see as he racked his brain for where this other place could be.

"You have a place in this house." She started slowly, Naruto's eyes widening in realization. "You have a place here with me. Stay for a week and decide then. Decide then whether you want to stay or go back okay?"

Naruto was just in a state of shock as he kept gaping at the smiling woman in front of him. Had she just… given  _him_  a place to stay in  _her home_? Him? Who was hated by everyone in the village?

"Why?" He wondered, absolutely bewildered.

"Because I want you to be happy. I don't want them to hurt you anymore. I want you to have a home to return to. But… I have selfish reasons for it too. I’ve been living alone her for half a year already and this house  _is_ kind of big if it's only me, you know?" She joked, her smile slightly sad. Naruto's head was just racing with what he had heard. She wanted him to be happy, he was  _needed_! And his eyes filled with tears again.

“It doesn’t have to end? This…” His voice broke and Miu pulled the boy into a hug again. He hugged her back, long and hard and Miu held him. “This doesn’t have to end?” He pulled back, looking Miu straight into her eyes, waiting, assessing her truthfulness.

“No, child. I want you to stay. It doesn’t have to end.” She swallowed and continued in a whisper. “I don’t want it to end.” The boy broke into a sob, burying his face in her shoulder.

“Please don’t be a dream,” He whispered, low enough that Miu was sure that she wasn’t supposed to catch it and Miu felt her heart break. “ _Please,_ please be real.” Miu closed her eyes and buried her nose into the boy’s blond mop of hair.

“It’s real, child.” She whispered back equally soft. “It’s not a dream.” _I’ll make sure it doesn’t stay a dream._

"Thank you, Tsukino-san." He cried. "Thank you so much!" Miu just smiled at him gently and softly brushed through his blond looks with her fingers.

"No, thank you, Naruto-kun… and please, just call me Miu, okay?" He looked up at her and she softly brushed away his tears.

"Miu-san?" he asked her questioningly.

Miu just gave him a brilliant smile.

* * *

 

They were both in the kitchen, both liberally dusted with some flour that had spilled on them both as Naruto had tried stirring a little too vigorously. After their somewhat emotional talk, Miu had decided to celebrate their first day together by making a chocolate cake. When she heard that he hadn’t had a piece of cake in his life, Miu’d decided to rectify that immediately.

Naruto helped her with mixing the batter, while Miu melted the chocolate.

“This will be good as a taste test, so you can tell me which flavor you prefer for your birthday cake. We’ll do chocolate today and strawberry tomorrow.” The boy looked up at her with a grin, a streak of flower across his nose and cheek. 

“Okay, Miu-san!” He laughed as Miu brushed a hand against her cheek, leaving another streak of flour in its wake. “You look so white!” Miu rolled her eyes.

“You’re one to talk – you’re absolutely covered in flour too!” Naruto looked over his clothes and giggled as he saw that he was indeed covered from head to toe.

“Well, you did a very good job of mixing the flour,” Naruto absolutely beamed at the praise. “We just have to wait for the chocolate to cool a bit before we add it.” Naruto nodded and gave Miu a curious look.

“How do you know so much about making a cake? Do you do it a lot?” Miu paused in putting away the stuff that they didn’t need anymore, remembering standing in the kitchen with her mother and baking a cake with her on the weekends or other days if there was time. The feeling of home, that familiar comfort…

“Yeah…I bake quite often.” She said softly. “My mother taught me how to do it. She was an absolute expert on cakes!” She said with a laugh.

“That’s really cool!” She ruffled the boy’s hair.

“It is, isn’t it? I also bake cookies and muffins and cupcakes and even bread when I want to. You’ll be tasting a lot of it in the future.” He grinned at the prospect. “I would love to make you any of those things on your birthday. We’ll have a fun celebration, okay?”

Naruto smiled back, a bit subdued and Miu frowned, “What’s wrong, Naruto-kun?”

He hesitated, gaze falling to his knees and Miu patiently waited, until he softly asked her, “My Birthday…is it really okay to celebrate?” She blinked and then realized why he was asking. So many people died on his birthday due to the Kyuubi attack…

Miu smiled at him softly. “I think every birthday is worth celebrating, kiddo. Whatever happened, it’s still the day you were born and I know that I want to honour that day by doing something fun.”

Naruto bit his lip, cheeks reddening with a blush as he tried to blink away the wetness in his eyes. “Thank you, Miu-san.”

She ruffled his hair, “No problem, Naruto.”

He seemed to calm down and perked up a bit. “When’s your birthday, Miu-san?”

“The seventeenth of January.” She grinned. “Guess how old I’ll be.”

The boy squinted at her for a while, before he leaned back. “You’ll turn seven!” He said it with absolute conviction and she had to bite back a laugh.

“Seven, huh. That’s pretty old, isn’t it?” She raised an amused eyebrow. “Are you sure, though?”

The boy hummed, tilting his head and narrowing his eyes in thought. “Eight?” He then hazarded and Miu couldn’t help a snort.

“I’m sixteen.” His eyes widened comically.

“But, but, that’s so _old_ , Miu-san!” She rolled her eyes and gave him a flick to the nose. He grabbed the hurt appendage and looked at her as if she had offended him. She grinned.

“And you’re still a baby.” Pulling away his hand from his nose, he pouted and crossed his arms.

“No, I’m not!”

“Yes, you are.” She cheerfully shot back.

“No I’m _not_.”

“Are too.”

“Am not!”

“Am not.” She agreed.

“ _Are too!”_ And then he looked horrified at what he’d said. “Miu-san!” He whined and Miu burst out into peals of laughter.

She ruffled his hair. “Got you there, didn’t I.”

Naruto stuck his tongue out.

They both finished preparing the cake and put it in the over, before she sat him down on the sofa.

“Okay, kid. If you’re going to be staying here, I want to tell you some things okay?” He looked nervous, but nodded.

“I am a shinobi.” His eyes lit up.

“Really? You must be really strong, Miu-san! I wanna be a shinobi too!”

Miu smiled at his obvious interest. “Not that strong, kiddo, but I can hold my own. You want to be a shinobi, huh? Why is that?”

“Because shinobi are cool! They know awesome techniques and people respect them a lot! I’m gonna be the best shinobi there is!” Miu blinked and changed gears for a second. If he wanted to go to the Academy, then it would only be a year and a half before he could get enrolled. She could work with that. She smiled at the boy, thinking of his parents.

“I have no doubt that you will be, kiddo.” The boy stilled for a second, before a brilliant smile spread across his face.

“Thank you, Miu-san.” She ruffled his hair.

“Anyway, as I was saying; I’m a chuunin, Naruto, which means I go on missions outside of the village frequently. I am not home much. These missions can take from a day to about three weeks to complete.” She pursed her lips. “If I left while you’re staying here, I would have to leave you alone for long periods of time. Even though I know that you are an independent boy, I can’t leave someone in my charge alone without food or supervision for that long.” She hummed and saw that the boy was starting to panic. She continued before he worked himself into a frenzy.

“So. If you plan on staying here, I’ll first ask the Hokage if I’m able to take leave for a year, or at least get a job inside the village until you enroll into the shinobi academy when you’ve turned six. That way I can also start training you, especially the basics before you get into the academy. How does that sound?”

She could always take the jounin exams later, when the kid was a bit older. She knew it was easier for a chuunin to stay inside the village than it was for jounin, so she postponed that goal with an internal sigh.

Naruto was looking at her like she’d grown two heads. “Y-you would train me?”

“Of course, kid. You do wanna be the greatest shinobi, right?” For a second there, she thought he would burst into tears again, but the boy sniffed and then grinned.

“Yeah! Thanks, Miu-san, you’re the best!”

“Don’t mention it, kiddo.” She would go speak to the Hokage about all of this tomorrow. Hopefully, he would be supportive of her wanting to work inside of the village instead of taking outside missions.

She looked the boy over and realized that if he would be staying, she should start getting him some new clothes at least. She had a spare toothbrush upstairs that he could use, until she could buy him his own kid’s brush.

“We’ll go shopping for some clothes tomorrow.” She decided.

The boy flushed. “T-that’s okay, Miu-san! I don’t need…” He fell silent at her silently raised brow. She smiled

“Don’t worry about it, Naruto-kun. If you’re staying here, I plan to take care of you properly, okay?” He nodded slowly and she understood that something else was bothering him.

“What’s wrong, kiddo?” He wrung the ends of his shirt nervously.

“Um, s-sometimes people from the stores won’t let me in?” He ducked his head, missing Miu’s flashing eyes.

“Don’t worry, Naruto. You’re with me. I’ll take care of it, alright?” The boy stared at her, before coming over to hug her.

“Okay.”

The alarm for the cake rung then and they both made their way to the kitchen. After decorating it, Miu sliced them both a piece with a glass of milk for him and a cup of tea for her.

They both shouted an 'Itadakimasu' before digging in.

Naruto hummed in delight.

"This is so yummy!" He exclaimed.

Miu grinned. "I absolutely agree, kiddo. Chocolate is the _best._ "

When they were done eating, Miu gave the boy a tour of the house. She took him outside to the back porch first, showing him how to open the French doors leading out from the kitchen, letting the cool autumn air blow in their hair. There was a barrier of light wood, about Naruto’s length, spanning around it, aside from an area in the middle where three steps led down into the garden. There were wooden beams supporting the porch roof. It was too dark to see the garden or the training posts so she promised to show him tomorrow.

She pointed to the door in the dining room that led to the living room, smiling when he said that he’d figured that one out.

“Miu-san, there was this weird door underneath the stairs, where does that go?” Miu grinned.

“I thought that was weird too.” She confided with a wink. “Come on, I’ll show you.”

She slid open the traditional sliding door—probably her dad’s idea, he had such a thing for tradition—and turned on the light. The door opened to simple wooden stairs, Naruto made good use of the hand railing to make his way down and gaped as the dojo came into view. It spanned the entire length of the property and even though it was located underground, the top part of the walls was lined with windows, reaching just enough above ground to let in natural light. The floor was lined with tatami mats and massive dark wooden beams supported the structure.

She grinned at his awed expression. “Cool, isn’t it?”

He grinned up at her, “Yeah!”

After she’d let him run about a bit, she took him upstairs.

She pointed at the first door opposite the stairs they'd just ascended, which were situated on the right side of the house. “This is guest bedroom number one.” She pointed to the door to the left of it. “The general bathroom. You can shower and bathe here, you gotta keep it clean though.” She then pointed at the doors on the left wall. “The one closest to the bathroom is guest bedroom number two, the room left to it is guest bedroom number three.” Or this would probably have been her dad’s study, she hadn’t fit either in, though she did keep a bunch of futons stocked there if she had more guests than bedrooms. “The room left from it is your room.” That was all on the left side of the house.

She pointed across the hall. “Mine is across from yours, next to the set of stairs that lead up into the library.” She showed him into each of the rooms. Showed him how to use the shower and bath, noted that she definitely need a stool for him to stand on, both to reach the sink and the toilet. She showed him into her room and his eyes lingered on the two pictures she had on her desk. One of her clan, or as many that could make it to the New Year’s celebration three years before their demise and the other of her parents and her.

She showed them to him and patiently introduced each and every person, though the ache was strong in her chest. It hurt to look at their picture, the one from her parents, and she averted her eyes from their glassy ones, because aside from these two photographs, the books in the library upstairs and some of the scroll downstairs, she hadn’t left out a single thing that reminded her of them.

She showed him her attached bathroom, before getting him his new toothbrush from one of the cabinets. She sat him down on the toilet after closing the lid and brushed his teeth for him. That done, she went and tucked Naruto into his bed.

Sitting on his bed, she remembered her promises to her friends.

"Ah, I almost forgot to tell you. I always wake up really early for a morning run, but I'll probably be back before you even wake up. And after lunch a good friend of mine is coming over. We're going to spar together for a bit and then we'll go out for dinner together, okay?"

Naruto looked a bit scared at the mention of her leaving and someone else coming over, but Miu thought the contact would be good for him. He had to see that there were people he could trust, that not everybody hated him. Besides, she wasn’t planning to keep this from her friends.

Anko had been an outcast too, since Orochimaru had defected from the village. The villagers and even some of the ninjas thought that she had always been an accomplice and they treated her like a traitor. Of course their other friends, Kurenai, Hayato and Yugao and many of the other ninjas knew that she wasn't and accepted her like she was.

She was wild, loud, brutally honest, but Miu knew that she was a good listener, someone that got lonely easily and was kind in her own tough-love kind of way. She wouldn't look at Naruto like how the others did. She had experienced the same after all.

"Don't worry, Naruto-kun, she's a very nice person. Someone that won't hurt you, okay?" Naruto nodded a bit hesitantly, but Miu was warmed by his trust in her.

"Okay, Miu-san." She smiled at him.

"My room is just across yours, if you need something, anything, you can come to me anytime, okay?" He just nodded. She kissed him on his forehead and gently combed through his hair with her fingers. "Good night, Naruto-kun. Sweet dreams." He smiled at her tiredly.

"Goodnight, Miu-san…" He closed his eyes and just like that, he was already asleep.

Miu slowly walked out of the room and gently closed the door behind her.

She made her way downstairs, through the kitchen and opened the French doors leading to the porch again. It was dark out, had been for a while. Miu noted that she should have probably put the kid to bed sooner. She would need to take care of his sleeping schedule in the future.

She made her way to the three stumps at the left side of her garden, and jumped on the middle one, sitting down crossed leg on top of it.

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and cleared her mind. The night air was cold against her skin, the leaves around her rustling softly.

Uzumaki Naruto…Minato-san and Kushina-san’s child. She couldn’t let him go back to the orphanage. She didn’t know if she was able to let him go to another family, if there was one. _He’s only four years old, can I really properly take care of a child?_

Miu loved children. Her dream was to become a jounin-sensei. She wanted at least two of her own later.

Could she take care of a child that had been abused and neglected? Would she be able to give him the home that he deserved? Miu thrived under having a responsibility, which is why she had fully given herself to her training and then the missions for the village. She went to the hospital in her off time, because she had some amount of skill that could be helpful.  Besides that, Miu could admit to herself that she’d felt less alone with him than she had in the last six months.

She opened her eyes to glance at the window of Naruto’s room and smiled. There was no way that she would let him go again, unless he specifically told her that he didn’t want to stay. A week. She would give him and herself a week and then she would formally adopt him.

Decision made, she opened her eyes, jumped off her stump and started running through her katas for the next hour. She then unsealed her sword that she kept inside an invisible storage seal that had been permanently imprinted on the inside of her wrist, and ran through the katas again. She blinked and straightened up from her last kata, breaths coming in soft puffs. She performed her cooling down exercises and sat back down on the stump. She sealed her sword away again, making a mental note to oil it and clean it properly before she went to bed.

She settled into her meditative state again and let her consciousness drift outwards, carrying on the wind. With her eyes closed, she spread out her chakra, making use of her control of wind to spread it out further and further. Her brow pinched at the constant stream of information.

 _A stain of chakra residue where she’d unsealed her scroll, the barriers around her,_ she let her consciousness drift outwards, away from her gates and to the village. _Clusters of chakra signatures at home, on the streets, some already drunk if the unsteadiness of their chakra was anything to go by._ She concentrated on one, the one wearing a hat and tested her control by blowing it off his head. Miu grinned in triumph and put the hat back on his head after it had made a summersault.

She pulled her focus back to a tree on her property, one close to the back of the fence, sharpened her wind chakra in a snap and cut _one, two, three_ slashes into the bark, scoring deep gouges in the wood, enough to scar but not deep enough to cut the tree.

She then dropped the technique with a grumble as a spike of pain shot through her brain, raising her hand to her forehead and clenching her eyes shut. “Well, damn. This sucks.” She breathed through the sudden headache, making handseals and raising her softly glowing green hand to her head to ease the worst of the pain.

She jumped off the stump and made her way up to her room, locking up for the night. She stopped at Naruto’s room again and concentrated on her hearing, for a second there was pure silence, before the soft, rhythmic breaths met her ears and she smiled and moved away to her own room. She sat down at her desk, pulled out a journal and opened to the last page to write about her progress on the technique.

Miu had been born with an immense affinity to the wind element. This characteristic popped up in the Tsukino family a few times every generation, enough so that they considered it a bloodline limit and had multiple techniques for the clan members that inherited the ability.

Her control had been incorporated into her taijutsu as well as in her kenjutsu. The blade of her katana was one that was conductive to wind chakra, giving her the power to increase her cutting power and reach immensely.

After Miu had discovered the basics of sensing –which was to infuse the surrounding air with chakra and let it travel to identify objects or people, like a sonar would, she thought of the fact that she could use the wind particles in the air, first to sense and then to solidify her wind chakra like she would for an attack, but instead to interact with the surroundings in a way that shouldn’t be possible otherwise.

The problem was that when she was spreading the particles, she had trouble with controlling them all and having them stay together. Often they would drift, causing an immense amount of input of information – it would pick up animals, trees, the leaves and insects in those trees and in effect overwhelm her to the point that she had a migraine.

She’d learned to heal the worst of the headache, but she always woke up with a banging pain in her head the next morning regardless.

Putting her journal away, she got the medical scroll and opened it up. She’d pretty much finished it when she’d been looking it over downstairs, but looked it over once and was satisfied to see it fully functional. She closed it with a sigh and thought of the seals she had seen in the hospital once.

“I would love to get in there one day.” She sighed. The one glimpse she’d gotten of them had sent her mind spinning. Beautiful ink work that helped save so many people. Unfortunately, as a low helper around the hospital, she wasn’t allowed anywhere near those sealing rooms. Yet.

She then took a quick shower and went to bed. Three hours after she tucked in Naruto, she fell asleep.

* * *

 

**Omake**

"I'll explain it to you." The angel said, making the four others shift their attention to him.

"As you can see, the river of life is a place where you can watch over those you have left behind. You all have your own space, that's why both sides are shrouded in mist. When two people meet as is their destiny, your paths will also cross. That's why the mist of your side let up when your daughter and son met each other."

Kazumi looked back at her friend. "But why haven't we met each other before then?"

The angel sighed deeply and sat down on the luscious green grass, slightly adjusting the white robe he was wearing.

"People tend to forget that you can meet those who have died here too. There's a place outside of this river where you can meet, yet some people tend to stay here, watching the living instead of going out and meeting with the others. Here you get your privacy and others can't see you or hear you." He explained.

"That's why you haven't met Kushina-san or Minato-san outside of this place; because they never left it… they've been here for four years watching over their son. Am I right?" He asked. Minato and Kushina just nodded. Kazumi bowed at the angel in front of her. "Thank you for the explanation."

He just smiled, got up and then left. The friends just stayed quiet for a while.

"So, Miu-chan was fated to meet Naruto?" Kushina asked with a small smile on her lips. Kazumi just nodded.

"She'll take good care of him. I'm sure of it." She added. Minato grinned at that.

"Guess, we can take time off from watching every now and again then right?" Hiroshi thumped his friend on the back and nodded at him.

"Yeah, she'll take good care of him… even more so when she realizes who he is." He said, pointing at the river again. They all sat down for a while and continued their vigilance over their precious children.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally finished rewriting the second chapter. Thank you all for the kudos and comments, I really appreciate it! Please let me know what you thought :D


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